A multitude of wireless communications devices including cellular phones, personal media devices, tablet pc's, and laptops are widely used and commercially available. These devices continue to become increasingly popular as demand for improved devices continues to grow. As market trends move towards smaller devices in an effort to enhance portability, device components are collaterally constrained to meet design specifications. At the same time, consumers are demanding a multitude of applications for use with wireless devices such as TV and FM radio reception and internet connectivity. As trends in consumer demands move towards multi-application portable electronic devices, component manufacturers are required to meet new requirements, and therefore develop novel solutions to satisfy consumer demands. Because portability is an ongoing necessity in the portable electronics market, size constraints must remain a primary focus of component manufactures. Cell phones, for example, are becoming smaller in size and lighter in weight while providing an increased number of useable features, such as internet, radio, television (DVB-H), communications, and others. To meet the demand for multi-application cell phones, additional and/or larger antennas and other components are often required. Cell phone and other portable electronic device manufacturers are moving towards reducing size of components and unnecessary bulk space, and reusing space where possible and practical. Antennas, specifically, have been a major focus of reducing size and space in electronic wireless communications devices. Multiple electrically small antennas embedded in a small wireless device will tend to couple, thereby degrading performance. Additionally, with the arrival of 4G communication systems, additional frequency bandwidth is required from the main antenna in a wireless device, along with a second antenna to satisfy the MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) antenna requirement.
Current market-available antenna designs and prior art antennas are not suitable for overcoming the aforementioned problems. Taking into consideration the requirements for the next generation of devices along with the deficits of current technologies, a solution is needed which achieves efficiency from an antenna required to cover the large frequency bands. Antennas commonly known and available which generally cover the whole frequency range tend to display inadequate antenna radiation efficiency at a fixed volume.
There is further a current need for improved connectivity at cellular and data transmission bands for mobile devices to accommodate the increasing demand for data rates for mobile wireless systems. Improved antenna performance, such as increased efficiency, will translate into increased data rates. Methods for increasing antenna system performance in wireless devices without increasing antenna volume requirements in the host device are welcomed and in fact desired in the industry to improve overall mobile system performance.
A trend in the consumer wireless industry is for a growing number of Original Equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs) to develop and market their own wireless device with the device designed to meet the minimum over-the-air performance required by carriers. These requirements sometimes do not take into account some specific user cases and situations that might degrade proper functionality of the antenna. Some solutions are needed to enhance the connectivity in any of the bands. Either cellular or media antennas could benefit from a supplementary antenna acting as a type of repeater in a surrounding case.
It would be beneficial to provide a case with integrated conductors designed to couple to and aid antenna performance, including a multi-conductor system designed to improve performance of a multiband communication system. In addition to the integrated conductors, features such as solar cells for battery recharging along with additional batteries can be included in the case assembly.